``Italian Job'' lead actor Wahlberg, who has worked with such critically acclaimed white directors as Paul Thomas Anderson (``Boogie Nights''), Jonathan Demme (``The Truth About Charlie''), Tim Burton (``Planet of the Apes'') and David O. Russell (``Three Kings''), says Gray's impact on his latest film was formidable.

``The studio was hoping to have this kind of Benetton ad of a movie, but it was Gary who really pulled it together,'' Wahlberg says. ``They would have gone a little bit more down the obvious route. And Gary did make it stylized, but he also worked well with the actors, allowing us to have fun and joke around and develop our characters. A lot of directors have a shot in their head that's more important than what the actors are doing. Gary's one to make the actors as important as everything else.''